DMX Was Raw, Talented, Matched By Few

Despite his struggles, DMX went on an unprecedented five-album run that completely shifted the rap music landscape.

The image bops in my head in dull-lit purple and pink pastels: a young girl in a majestic quinceanera dress, smiling half-lovingly, half-embarrassed, two-stepping off beat. Her father, all gangly limbs and gold chains and shiny shaved head, swings confidently to his own rhythm. He is grooving 10 times faster than the somber beat to Luther Vandross’s “Da…